24th June 2023

ZHARNEL HUGHES BREAKS MEN'S 100M BRITISH RECORD

Zharnel Hughes (coach: Glen Mills, club: Shaftesbury Barnet) broke the 30-year-old men’s 100m British record with a sublime 9.83 (1.4) clocking at the USATF NYC Grand Prix in New York, USA on Saturday 24 June.

Linford Christie’s long-standing record – 9.87 – set at the 1993 World Championships – fell at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting. It also moved him to second behind Lamont Marcell Jacobs in the European all-time list.

Hughes’s second 50m was astonishing as he moved from third up to first to take the win and lower his all-time best to 9.83 which put him top of the all-time UK rankings. It was also a world leading time in 2023.

Speaking to World Athletics after the race, he said, “I saw them ahead of me and I thought, ‘I’m coming for you’, so I just relaxed, and I could hear my coach’s voice in my head, ‘Zhaaaarnel, shoulders down!’ So, I just trusted myself, maintained my speed, relaxed and let it flow.

“9.83 is a dream – I wrote this down this morning,” added Hughes. “I can’t believe it. My coach also told me that I was going to run a PB in New York.

“I’m not rushing anything, though. Patience, patience, patience. The job is not done yet.”

“I always give respect to Linford,” Hughes said of Christie. “He always supports me every time I’m in the UK, and sometimes he helps out with my training sessions. I’m looking forward to seeing him, shaking his hand, and telling him that this is long overdue.”

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